Major MenB outbreak feared

Three cases of the potentially deadly disease have been recorded in Far North Queensland over the past three weeks.

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GPs in Queensland’s top end have been urged by PHNs to be on the lookout for meningococcal B, after a third child was confirmed to have the disease in as many weeks.  

Crucially, the state’s expanded menB vaccination program means that all infants between six weeks and 12 months of age are eligible to get it for free, alongside adolescents aged between 15 and 20.  

Catch-up immunisation for children younger than two who have not started or completed a course of the Bexsero vaccine are also covered under the state program, which was launched earlier this year.  

The National Immunisation Program, meanwhile, covers all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children under two, as well as people with specific medical risk factors like sickle cell disease.  

“We know that there is a significant group of kids who remain unvaccinated for meningococcal B, so we’re putting a call out to make sure that we can vaccinate our patient populations as a matter of urgency,” RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins told The Medical Republic. 

As of Monday 2 September, Queensland Health had identified 20 cases of menB this year.  

A public health alert issued by the Tropical Public Health Service in mid-August said three cases of meningococcal disease had been identified in the Indigenous community of Yarrabah. 

At least two more cases have been reported since then, with the ABC reporting that the total number of children with confirmed meningococcal B has reached three over the past three weeks.  

The latest case was an infant in Cairns who was partially vaccinated, but too young to have completed the full course of Bexsero.  

He had no known connections to the children in the Yarrabah cluster.  

Tropical Public Health Service acting director Dr Paul Dugdale told the ABC it was “unusual and fairly significant” and a “major outbreak”. 

Up to 70 people have been advised to take antibiotics during the contact-tracing process.  

South Australia also funds MenB vaccination for children under 12 months and year 10 students.  

The Country Liberal Party, which recently won the Northern Territory election, has also pledged to roll out its own program for free Bexsero vaccines. 

WA, Tasmania, Victoria, NSW and the ACT do not have a state-funded program for MenB vaccination.